Chapter 16
Brie
Brie sat on the bridge and checked status readouts. Anchoring for a prolonged period of time could drain onboard batteries, among other things, and it was her job to make sure ship systems functioned properly. She was happy for the full array of solar panels, which would help to keep the batteries charged when the engine was off. Continuing down her checklist, she confirmed fuel levels. The bilge pump worked without issue. A quick check on the radar revealed no-one in the near vicinity.
While the men were on their dive, she headed below deck to check on their water supply and status of the desalinization plant. Eventually, she would make it down to the engine room to check on oil levels and the compressor for the onboard air handling system.
Intense curiosity had her stopping outside Brent’s cabin. She shouldn’t go in, and it violated his privacy, but she found herself turning the handle and pushing on the door. Two steps in and she pulled up short. Expecting to see a messy cabin, the tightly tucked in sheets on his bed gave her pause. He had his own bathroom, and rather than scattered toiletries, everything appeared to be in its place.
The corner of her lip lifted at his neat-freak tendencies. She’d have to step up her game when they moved in together.
That had her staggering against the wall. Not an if but rather when.
When had that happened?
She exited his cabin, afraid of where her head, or rather heart, was with Brent. It felt right though, if a little fast.
Feeling guilty for invading his space, she backed out of his cabin. She was supposed to be doing a routine check of ship’s systems, not prying in Brent’s room.
The boat rocked gently and she jumped at a sudden noise. Donald had left the door to his cabin unsecured. It swung open and her curiosity brought her to the threshold. Unlike Brent, his cabin was a complete mess. He didn’t have a full-sized bed like Brent’s cabin. Unlike her quarters with the bunkbeds, he had a single twin bed. That small difference made Donald’s cabin appear twice as large as hers.
She started to back out of Donald’s space when a beep sounded from somewhere on the bed. Curious, she took a step forward, and then another when she recognized the distinctive outline of a satellite phone.
It was rude to look, and she shouldn’t, yet she lifted a wrinkled shirt. They were supposed to be on radio silence until after Brent reported their find.
She shouldn’t peer at the screen, but she did. There were two messages; one outgoing and one response.
On site. More to follow.
In position, waiting…
Too easy to jump to conclusions, Brie put everything back the way it had been. It had been wrong to snoop, and now that she found something—something she didn’t understand and could be easily taken out of context—what was she going to do with it? Tell Brent? Ask Donald? Neither of those options sounded good. Best to ignore what was none of her business and go about the job she’d been hired to do.
Twenty minutes later, she found herself back on deck. Everything looked ship-shape. One more trip down to the galley and she returned with ice cold water and a modest lunch of cold cuts and all the fixings for sandwiches. Donald could complain about her cooking, but she made a mean sandwich.
They had another two dives planned for the day before adding alcohol into the mix, but she secretly brought up a bottle of champagne on ice. Fingers crossed they would have reason to celebrate.
With the sun sitting high in the sky, she glanced over the gunnels to see if she could see any sign of the men. To her surprise, a lift bag breached the surface. Bubbles from the men’s exhaled breaths boiled on the surface. She squinted and found them hovering fifteen feet below the surface. They would stay there for a minimum of three minutes while nitrogen off-gassed out of their blood. A diver’s nemesis, the ever-present threat of the Bends was nothing to take lightly.
She paced back and forth on the deck. What had they found? What did they see? Did Brent find what he needed to establish the providence of the wreck? Was the dive another bust? A glance at her watch revealed only a minute had gone by. How was it that three minutes seemed to take forever?
They ran the sieve heavily during this last dive. The low drone had rattled her teeth and rumbled through the deck. If they came up empty how would she keep the smile on her face?
Shouts from the water pulled her up short. Brent and Donald hugged each other. They had found something.
She drew her hands to her chest and gave a little hop, happy to be witness to their success. Brent lifted something in his mesh dive bag. Impossible to see details from this distance, but it was in the shape of a rectangle.
“What is that?” Barely containing her excitement, she rushed to the platform and called out.
“The score of the century. And there’s more!” Donald towed the lift bag behind him.
Suspended a few feet below the surface, she had no doubt they had something in that tray. She went to the gunnel and activated the crane, lowering the hook down to where Donald could attach the tray. He swam alongside the boat, a huge grin on his face, and hooked the tray to the crane.
Brent climbed on board, removed his dive gear, and went to help her lower the tray to the deck.
“It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the San Fernando.” He showed her the collection of cutlery, plates, and bowls. He turned one over, making sure to keep it submerged, and pointed at the markings. “This is the Spanish seal.” He traced a worn-out name. “And this is the name of the ship.”
She stared at a piece of history and found herself at a loss. Should she hug him, kiss him, squat beside him as he traced his fingers over the letters spelling out San Fernando?
“What a dive!” Donald climbed onboard and took off his gear.
Brent stood, taking the question of what she should do out of her hands, and went to his friend. Fist bumps, bro-hugs, and a smattering of shouts reminded her of one thing. She was the interloper here. A hired hand with an NDA. This discovery belonged to them.
To her surprise, they devoured the sandwiches, sending her down for more. When she headed upstairs, a beep sounded from behind the door to Donald’s cabin. Curiosity aside, she passed by, eager to get back to celebrate while telling herself it was none of her business.
The men sat on the deck, cross-legged, and peered at something between them.
“And you saw more?” Donald’s brusque tone sounded eager.
“Beneath this were at least three more.”
“What are you looking at?” She’d seen the plate, but Brent hadn’t shown her what had been in that bag.
He patted the deck beside him. “Have you ever seen a silver ingot?”
“I didn’t know they made those.”
“Silver and gold were the currency of the Spanish empire. They melted down what they found into ingots and coins.”
“Brent says he saw a stack of these. We were breathing fumes and had to surface, but there’s more.”
“Silver?” She tried not to sound disappointed. Hadn’t they expected to find gold?
“It’s only the tip of the iceberg. I can feel it.” Brent handed her the stack of flat rectangular ingots.
“Funny. I always thought they were thicker than this. They’re like pancakes.”
“Expensive pancakes.” Donald huffed a laugh and took the stack from her. “There are maker’s marks on these. Brent can tell us what they mean. We have the name of the ship and we have treasure.”
“All that’s left,” Brent said, “is to call it in.”
“Call it in?” She looked between the two men, confused. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about this?”
“Now that we have positive ID on the ship and established it was a part of the treasure fleet which sunk in 1733, it’s time to let the Coast Guard know. They’ll help us secure the area while we complete the salvage.”
“Oh,” she said, “I guess that makes sense. Do you want me to contact them?”
Brent shook h
is head. “No. I have a friend on standby. We want to do another dive and see if there’s anything other than silver down there. It’s hard to say what ship was carrying what in the fleet. Whatever records they kept went down with the ship.”
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if this was one of the ships that carried Royals.” Donald handed the welded stack of silver ingots back to her.
“I’m sorry, but what is a Royal?”
“Coins in those days were rough. Their makers were more concerned about the weight and quality of the gold rather than whether it looked perfect. But they made a certain number of coins which were perfect and called them Royals.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Those were the coins meant to be presented to the king. It’s been long speculated this fleet carried Royals.”
“What would something like that be worth? I’m assuming more than a regular coin.”
“Well, remember that story I told you about the woman who lost the coin in the mail?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a regular coin, worth between forty and fifty thousand. The last Tricentennial Royal sold for over five hundred thousand. If we find a stack of those, it’ll be insane.”
“Didn’t you say coins tended to be spread out? The action of the waves rolled them around?”
“Yes,” Brent said. “Most coins were stored loose in leather sacks, then placed in the hold, but perfect coins meant for the king would’ve been wrapped and bound and put in the most secure location, far to the back of the hold. Chances are much higher they were buried and the strongbox either didn’t decay or decayed at a slow rate, which means those coins were much less likely to be scattered.”
“Not sure if you want to celebrate just yet, but I did bring a bottle of champagne.” She glanced between Brent and Donald.
Donald shook his head. “Let’s wait and see what else we recover and have a big celebration tonight.”
“Sounds good to me.” Brent went to his dive gear and disconnected his tank. “Give me your empty and I’ll put it on the whip.” He gestured to Donald.
Donald popped up. “You sit with Brie and do that hugging thing. I’ll swap out our tanks. We could possibly get five dives in today, maybe more.”
“Let’s see how it goes. Five for sure, but we’ve got a week’s worth of dives ahead of us. Let’s not push ourselves too hard.”
“Gotcha.” Donald took Brent’s tank and carried it to the compressor.
Brent grabbed her hand and kissed the backs of her knuckles. The heat of his lips made her flush. It was impossible not to think about where else she’d like to have those lips. A shudder rippled down her spine.
“I’m so very happy for you. I can’t imagine how you must feel.” She turned his hand over to trace the outlines of the veins climbing up his forearm.
“It’s pretty incredible.” He leaned forward and cupped her cheek in his hand, tugging her close. “I want to show you.”
Their lips hovered a breath apart. She breathed him in, loving the intimacy of the moment hanging before a kiss began.
“This is crazy, isn’t it?”
“You mean us?” He tilted his head to the side, teasing her with the promise of his kiss.
“Yes.” Her breathy exhale fluttered between them.
“You feel it too?” He grabbed the nape of her neck, threading his fingers into her hair.
“I do. I’ve never felt this before.”
“Perhaps that’s because you’ve never found the one you want.”
“Have you?” She pulled back, but he refused to let her retreat.
“Have I ever felt this before?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “You’re the one I want, Brie. There’s never been another woman who’s made me feel like this.” And as if to show her exactly what he meant, he pressed his lips to hers, finally closing the distance between them.
Her eyes drifted closed. Her skin heated. Her lips trembled. He took his time, not rushing the kiss, and her world centered on him.
She found herself falling deeply in love with a man dedicated to his passions, loyal to his friends, and affectionate beyond anything she’d ever experienced. He didn’t push. He didn’t grope. He didn’t try to force what was happening between them. Yet he led each step, taking her toward the inevitability hanging between them. Their hearts were coming together before the union of their bodies, a step most couples skipped altogether. Unfortunately, it was a step she’d raced past in her previous relationships.
Perhaps that’s why they had all ended in disaster. She didn’t want to rush things with Brent, not that she held any of herself back.
Instead, she allowed him to lead and set the pace. One night, hopefully soon, she would find herself sheltered in his arms as they whispered in the dark, confessing their deepest desires and exploring mutual fantasies. To think she could have that with a man, not for one night, or even a week, but for a lifetime.
His free hand curved around to cup her breast as his other hand tangled in her hair, gripping tight and tugging just right. She moaned and arched into him, exposing her need and desire for more. Somewhere behind them, Donald was filling tanks, or maybe he’d gone below deck.
Donald shouldn’t be a reason to keep them apart and maybe it was time to let that hang up go?
She glided her hands over Brent’s strong arms and let them continue their exploration across the breadth of his back. It felt good to touch him freely, not holding back over fear of what Donald might see, or think, or worse. Not that Donald hadn’t warmed up to her or that they weren’t developing a friendship of sorts.
She gasped as Brent suddenly lifted her in his arms and settled her in his lap. He yanked her head back, making her give a little shriek as he exposed the soft skin of her neck. Then his lips were on her, sucking, licking, nipping, and setting her ablaze. Her nerves lit up and tiny bursts of electricity shot down her body, making her shiver and squirm in his arms.
“You taste like sin, luv.” He nibbled on her earlobe, sucking it into his mouth.
“Brent…” She relaxed in his embrace.
One arm wrapped around her shoulders. His hand tangled in her hair, twisting and pulling. His mouth coaxed her to open to him, a maddening force she couldn’t resist.
“I want you.” He pulled back and stared at her, his blue eyes blown nearly black with lust. “I don’t know how much longer I can wait. Stay with me tonight. I’ve fantasized about you far too long.”
She couldn’t help but smile.
“Is that a yes?”
His mouth descended, not waiting for her answer, and he kissed her slowly, allowing the passion to build between them until her entire body trembled for more.
Chapter 17
Brent
Brie’s kisses were wonderful things which made Brent’s entire world stop and take notice. He could linger with her in his arms forever, yet feel as if no time had passed at all. But, all good things had to end.
Donald returned from below deck and Brent gave one last squeeze before releasing Brie.
"You about ready to go again?" Donald glanced at his watch. "We have about five minutes left of our interval. By the time we suit up, we should be good."
“Ready Freddy." He gave Brie’s hand a quick squeeze. “Don’t miss me too much, okay?”
“Okay.” She gave a tiny frown which ended in a pout. He understood; he didn’t want to leave.
“Hey, let go of the girl and get your ass in gear,” Donald teased. “I want to see what else we can find."
"Duty calls." With regret, Brent released Brie and went to his gear. "Did you change out the tanks?" He couldn’t remember if he’d swapped out his tank after the last dive.
Donald lifted a tank and placed it by Brent's gear. "This one is full. I already put our empties on the whip. We've got time for two more dives today and I want to make sure they’re good to go.”
A play of emotions danced across Brie’s face as she watched them g
et ready. He could guess at what she was thinking. She couldn’t go with them, as much as he wished she could, someone had to stay behind and mind the boat.
With his tank strapped to his back, he checked his primary regulator that he would breathe through, and his backup. Depth gauge, compass, and pressure gauge worked great. He gave a nod when his pressure gauge pegged at 3200 PSI.
"Great fill."
“I don't want to be rushing to the surface before we absolutely have to." Donald settled the heavy tank on his back and fastened his weight belt around his waist.
Brie pulled her knees to her chest and kept quiet. It was clear she wanted to dive with them and experience the thrill of uncovering sunken treasure, but there were too many risks associated with leaving the ship unattended.
If the boat drifted away, they would be stranded; three people bobbing like corks in the middle of nowhere, with no chance of rescue. Nobody knew where they were. If that happened they would likely die, and he wasn’t willing to take that chance; not with Brie.
A conscientious diver, he was big on safety. Sometimes Donald said he was too anal about his safety protocols. He barely let Brie do that one solo dive until she showed him the bailout bottle she always took with her.
There would be plenty of time over the next couple of weeks for her to hop in the water. With his thoughts on what they would find, he donned his gear while she settled in to wait.
Donald went into the water first and Brent followed. After a brief check at the surface, they put their regulators into their mouths and gave the thumbs down signal which started the dive.
Crystal blue water became their world with visibility a stunning seventy feet or more. He loved the freedom of diving. It was the closest he would ever come to flying and the feel of being weightless.
The air coming through his regulator tasted wrong. As they dropped to depth, he held his hands clasped in front of him and his legs slightly bent, keeping his body level with the bottom. A school of fish swam by and he watched them dart back and forth.
Brent: Military Heroes (The One I Want Series Book 2) Page 11